Haas, Oscar

Oscar Haas (1885-1981) was an historian of New Braunfels and Comal County and a descendent of German New Braunfels settlers. Haas married Clara Amelia Conring in June 1918, and they eventually started working together translating and annotating German materials. Early in his adult life, Haas was employed as a men's-wear salesman. In 1934 he was elected Comal county treasurer, a position he held for twenty-eight years. As a hobby, Haas began to collect and translate material on old New Braunfels and Comal County and its citizens, specifically relating to the German settlement of that area, and eventually he began writing for publication, in the Neu Braunfelser Zeitung and the New Braunfels Herald .

In 1961 Haas and his wife began writing a weekly history series, Comal County in the Civil War, and one year later Haas retired from his office as country treasurer in order to work on his History of New Braunfels and Comal County, Texas, 1844–1946, which was published in 1968. His other well known published works include Chronological History of the Singers of German Songs in Texas (1948), The First Protestant Church, Its History and Its People: 1845–1955 (1955), and a translation of the Civil War diary of Capt. Julius Giesecke of New Braunfels.

Oscar Haas was the recipient of many awards for historical writing as well as community service. Additionally, he belonged to a number of German singing societies and he was also a collector of Indian artifacts. Haas died in Boerne, Texas, in 1981.

Source : Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Haas, Oscar, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/fhadj.html (accessed May 19, 2010).

From the guide to the Haas, Oscar Papers 62-18; 62-22; 62-26; 62-59; 63-22; 63-34; 63-75; 63-76; 63-126., 1844-1955, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)